week's Bermuda Grand Prix has established itself as a major event on the pro calendar, according to organisers.

The four-day event begins with the Front Street Classic in Hamilton on Thursday night.

Saturn, regarded by many as the top US domestic team along with United Postal Service, are sending their four top riders, including the 1997 US Pro Road Race champion, Bart Bowen.

The 30-year-old rider from New Mexico recorded 17 victories last year in addition to the coveted US Championships and will be seen as the top contender for the Bermuda race.

He will be joined by Canadian Brian Walton, who counts among his achievements a silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games on the track and two gold medals at the 1995 Pan-Am Games in Argentina, one on the track and the other in the road race.

Walton won the time trial in Le Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia earlier this year and will be riding against Bermudian Elliot Hubbard in the Commonwealth Games later this year.

Joining that duo will be Frank McCormick of Massachusetts. Riding for Saturn since 1995, he has racked up over 300 career victories and has already had a busy 1998 with top finishes both in the US and internationally.

His 1996 win in the US Pro Criterium Championships and second place in 1997 makes him a hot favourite for Thursday's Classic.

The fourth member of the team is Chris Wherry from Boulder, Colorado who is in his second year as a professional. He was the national amateur road race champion in 1996 before turning professional and has already established himself as a force to be reckoned with.

The professional teams entered for the Grand Prix make this the best ever field assembled in Bermuda, said Bermuda Bicyle Association president Greg Hopkins.

Among the pros will be Hubbard, the 1996 champion who is returning to home soil with his New Jersey-based Navigators team. Other teams include 1997 winners Shaklee, One Plus Inc (Hubbard's former team), Team Breakaway, Snow Valley, the Canadian national team and a team from Britain with two top Irish riders on board.